


Do You Believe the Situation?

by ForNought



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Almost first time, F/M, First Kiss, Gen, Iizaka just doesn't know anything, Johzenji, M/M, Mentions of Underage Sex, Seventeen isn't actually underage where I am from, and there is a slight allusion to Terushima having had underage sex, but Iizaka gets into a sexual situation with somebody older, getting lectured by a drunk stanger, picking up chicks (sort of), slight biphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8556832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForNought/pseuds/ForNought
Summary: Iizaka is sick and tired of Numajiri's complaining. If complaining were a sport at the Olympics, Numajiri would win the gold medal, but it isn't and he is plain irritating. But Iizaka is wrong if he thinks getting out of listening to Numajiri complain about Futamata somehow getting a girlfriend won't get him into some other mess he is wrong.He ends up offending Terushima and somehow being on the receiving end of some shaky revenge.





	

"I don't believe it," Numajiri grumbled sourly. He shook his head slowly as he squinted across the sports hall. Nobuyoshi followed Numajiri's gaze and was completely unsurprised to see Futamata laughing loudly with his hands planted firmly on his hips. This had become routine for Numajiri over the past few days. Ever since Futamata smugly announced that he had a girlfriend, Numajiri had taken to attempting to burn holes through their setter.

Nobuyoshi couldn't believe it either - Futamata seemed to possess none of the attributes that the girls in his class reeled off when asked what they wanted in a boyfriend - but he wasn't taking it as personally as Numajiri. The way that Numajiri would not stop bringing it up initially suggested Futamata had caused him some sort of personal slight, but it turned out he didn't even know the girl. He was making far more of a fuss than was strictly necessary.

"Can you stop talking about this?" Nobuyoshi asked. He already knew what the answer would be but it didn't stop him from hoping for Numajiri's acquiescence.

"No!" Numajiri exclaimed pointing the mouth of his water bottle at Nobuyoshi threateningly. After a moment he flopped onto the floor beside him. The two-on-two match they had just finished had been tough so for Numajiri to have been capable of wandering around the sports hall and loudly asking if anybody else could believe the situation, he must really have been worked up. He growled as he flopped back onto the floor and whined pathetically when his head smacked into the wall behind him.

"Are you alright?"

"No," Numajiri pouted. "I would be much better if the world went back to normal. I just don't get how someone who has not once in their life attempted to style their hair-"

"I was asking about your head," Nobuyoshi interrupted. He wished he hadn't bothered with being a decent human being if he was just going to trigger another tirade about how slovenly Futamata really is. He got up quickly, just in case he somehow reminded Numajiri of something else that Futamata always did wrong, and walked in the direction of somebody who was hopefully more sane. 

"Terushima, when can I swap partners?" Nobuyoshi asked. He was completely casual so there was absolutely no need for Terushima to smirk the way he was.

"Never. The partners we have now are the partners we will have for every practice for ever and ever," Terushima said. He elbowed Misaki hard enough for her to stumble, still grinning as he said, "Isn't that right, Hana-chan!" 

Misaki glared up at him darkly but such nuance was lost on Terushima. She gave up on trying to get some remorse out of him and turned to Nobuyoshi. "What seems to be the problem?"

She sounded like a doctor when she asked questions like that - she had the handwriting of one too - and for some reason it made Nobuyoshi nervous to tell the truth. Misaki was still quiet a lot of the time. It was only when Terushima - any member of the team, really, but most often Terushima - pushed her too far that she would start to yell. Nobuyoshi had no idea how Misaki was fine to listen to Numajiri's endless complaints, but he briefly wondered whether complaining about Numajiri's complaining would be enough to push Misaki over the edge.

He decided to go for it, because he didn't have much to lose.

"I would like to be partnered with somebody who doesn't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Futamata's faults," Nobuyoshi said. "At least for today." 

Misaki nodded and tapped her chin. "That is a tough one," she said. She remained quiet and ignored Terushima's belated remorse as she thought. She was well disciplined, Nobuyoshi thought, because Terushima's arpeggioed apologies were getting more and shrill. 

"Shut up," Nobuyoshi muttered, because he was not blessed with infinite patience.

"Rude, Iizaka. I am the captain in case you weren't aware," Terushima said with his hands on his hips.

Anabara was standing a few feet away and looked up from the clipboard Kuribayashi was showing him with mild shock on his face. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "Terushima, you honestly had everyone fooled about that."

"Sensei, not only was that rude but it was also heart breaking," Terushima replied happily.

"Perhaps doing some work would mend your heart," Anabara suggested. "You too, Iizaka."

"I can assure you, Sensei, my heart is not breaking," Nobuyoshi said. Most of all he did not want to have to return to practicing with Numajiri. His patience had worn thinly enough for the day and he still had to live through whatever world-ending emergency his twin sisters would be having that evening. He could accept two thirteen-year-olds being melodramatic, but he had to draw the line somewhere and at the moment Numajiri was straddling that line.

Anabara glanced over to Numajiri, as though he knew exactly what was on Nobuyoshi's mind, and pulled his lips into a small smile. "Would you rather team up with Futamata?"

Misaki and Terushima - who did not have a propensity to listen to their coach very often - were craning their necks to see what Nobuyoshi thought of this. He didn't particularly like that alternative. He already knew many of Futamata's shortcomings, and Numajiri was slowly becoming creative with the ways he aired his grievances, but that was a safe, if irritating, thing to have to hear. There was a very real possibility that he might end up being subjected to an extensive version of how fantastic Futamata's girlfriend was. And he simply didn't care about that. When he said as much, Anabara smirked - or it looked like he was smirking. Anabara claimed that he never did anything devious, underhanded, or anything else remotely requiring him to smirk, yet the expression was on his face.

"What about playing a few sets with Terushima?" Anabara suggested. A flash of something passed over his face as he turned to Misaki, and Nobuyoshi felt uneasy. "What do you think, Misaki?"

Misaki nodded quickly and smiled up at the coach. "That was exactly what I was thinking," she said.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Terushima asked loudly. Only Kuribayashi acknowledged his question by tilting her head sympathetically but that didn't do much to help. 

Misaki looked sharply over to Terushima and finally said, "I think Kuwashige-kun needs a break from you." 

"How did this become about me?" Terushima asked. He was missing the most important point with his dramatics. How did this become a punishment for Nobuyoshi? He respected Terushima as a captain, and he liked talking to him outside of practice too - better than the rest of the team on occasion - but on a day like today it seemed like his day would only get worse if he ended up with Terushima now.

Nobuyoshi had always known he had a knack for accurately predicting unfortunate outcomes. He had suspected it since he was a small child who suddenly had to share his parents with two screaming babies. It had been confirmed when he let an overly confident Higashiyama near his hair with scissors back in middle school. He had no reason to doubt the reality of watching Kuwashige - allegedly the most promising of the first years, but suddenly an additional omen of foreboding to Nobuyoshi - striding across the sports hall to let Numajiri know how plans had changed.

"I feel kind of bad about hating that kid," Nobuyoshi grumbled under his breath. Terushima whacked him hard on the back. The wide grin suggested he thought he was being encouraging but Nobuyoshi only felt more annoyed. 

"I've never felt bad about hating you," Terushima said. 

Nobuyoshi was sure he had a future in clairvoyance when the next opponents he had to face were Tsuchiyu and Futamata. Futamata was grinning widely and, though he was yet to breathe a word of what had him so chipper, Tsuchiyu's dour expression told the whole story. 

"Are you alright?" Nobuyoshi asked Tsuchiyu through the net right before Futamata served a ball right into Terushima's face. The downwards sloping of Tsuchiyu's countenance bounced for a moment before the weight of Futamata's pestering returned. He offered a melancholy thumbs up and Nobuyoshi could only wonder what horrors reduced his spirit to this lacklustre level.

"That was on purpose, wasn't it?" Terushima growled. No matter how many times he pressed his fingers to his nostrils, no red spots appeared. His nose didn't end up gushing blood all over his T-shirt either. He sniffed loudly and glared at Futamata. Apparently having a girlfriend was something that excused a person from caring about anything else, or that is what it seemed as Futamata grinned goofily from the other side of the court.

Terushima sniffed loudly and wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. "Iizaka, we are going to kill Futamata."

Iizaka thought it was a valiant sentiment, but it was just a practice session. Terushima had the edge on Futamata when it came to two-on-two, but Tsuchiyu was better still. Nobuyoshi always tried his hardest too, because it was fun and playing wouldn't be fun unless he tried. As fun as it was, Nobuyoshi couldn't call himself a major factor in whether they won or lost, not like Terushima who could grin affably and chalk his skills up to just having fun. 

Nobuyoshi was still good enough.

One of his spikes became a free ball that he managed to toss straight to Terushima without pause. Terushima and Nobuyoshi had a height advantage and there were some spikes that sailed right through Tsuchiyu and Futamata's blocks without resistance. But for a player who wouldn't officially get the chance to exhibit one skill in particular, Tsuchiyu's serves took back as many points as the reach of his fingertips lost.

It can't have been so bad, being teamed up with Futamata. Not if Tsuchiyu was so easily able to shake the misery that had been etched into his face scant minutes prior. Though a part of Nobuyoshi suspected it was something to do with Futamata being unable to talk about his girlfriend during play.

Terushima served the ball in a high arc that bounced right off Futamata's forearms for Tsuchiyu to set. Nobuyoshi was at the net in time for the block but he misjudged where the trajectory would go. Terushima wasn't quite in time to stop it with his block as his arm shot out and the ball blasted past his fingers. When he landed he shook his hand quickly and grinned at Nobuyoshi.

"Ah, if only Akiko-chan could have seen how cool I looked just now," Futamata wistfully said from across the net. 

Nobuyoshi was clearly wrong and Tsuchiyu was the patron saint of endurance.

 

"You were really good today," Terushima commented after practice. He thumped Nobuyoshi on the back. Despite the obvious good will he was being shown he could not help but feel suspicious. He hadn't made any plays of note. He was just there, blocking and receiving whatever he could. He must have been frowning, showing his thoughts too plainly on his face, because Terushima snickered. "Why can't you just trust me for once?"

"I feel like I am one of your women or something. I'm sorry to say this, but I absolutely will not put out for you," Nobuyoshi said, deadpan. He hoped he had made it sound enough like a joke that it wouldn't be awkward. Because he did feel a bit like he was being flirted with. He had seen enough of Terushima's hollow compliments to know how he operated. It wasn't a particularly nice feeling to be on the receiving end of it.

Terushima was still smiling, at least his mouth was, but his stare sharpened. It felt too precise. Nobuyoshi did not want Terushima of all people to get under his skin so easily. They were just walking home, this was not the time to get unsettled as though anything was happening.

"They're not _my women_ , Iizaka," Terushima said. "They belong to themselves and if they choose to share a part of them with me, who am I to refuse?"

Nobuyoshi shoved his hands into his pockets. He was cold. Terushima still sounded incredibly sleazy. He couldn't say he was privy to what Terushima got up to in his spare time. He wasn't a Bobata, or a Futamata or anyone who was _that_ close to the captain. They were on the same team and they lived quite near each other, but what they had was a somewhat superficial friendship.

Higashiyama and Numajiri had always felt closer to Nobuyoshi, but he supposed they had more history - the foundations of their friendship had been forged in middle school and Tsuchiyu had slotted easily into the gaps he found. And Nobuyoshi liked Terushima well enough but he had been learning that he didn't really know him. 

He had realised it when Karasuno beat them and Terushima started to amend his version of fun. Bobata did not seem at all surprised by the sudden quiet that emanated the air when Terushima's voice was absent. Futamata did not seem to mind having to repeat things for the benefit of a Terushima whose eyes lost focus and shone too bright when he couldn't do something well.

But he had heard of some of Terushima's past times. Nobuyoshi was certain that most of Johzenji knew of Terushima's exploits - mingling with adults amongst smoke and alcohol and letting them see a side of him that was not so different to themselves.

"You make it sound like these women are throwing themselves at you, like you are doing them a favour, but I am wrong for calling them your women?" Iizaka grumbled, his words hung in the air before his face and he had a moment go watch them twist away as they condensed.

"It isn't as simple as that," Terushima said. It was said in the thoughtful way that Nobuyoshi had only recently become familiar with - a way that was a reminder that the pair of them were not really that close. Terushima looked up as he walked, so confident in his steps that he needn't pay attention to potholes and ditches that might obstruct his way. He grinned suddenly and looked at Nobuyoshi. "You should come out with me some time."

Nobuyoshi grinned back. It was best to look like he was in on the joke because there was a chance of deterring further jokes at his own expense. "Do you think I am the clubbing type, Terushima?" 

"Aren't you?"

"I have never been clubbing before on account of the fact I am underage."

Terushima only grinned wider at that. "Then how can you possibly know that it isn't for you?"

"It's illegal," Nobuyoshi said. Because it was. Whether or not it was a lifestyle that might suit him, it was illegal so surely it was a moot point. Terushima thought differently if the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Forget about that. Just consider trying it out," Terushima said with a shrug. He said it like it was no big deal, like it was as simple as saying yes and getting into one of the sketchy clubs they were talking about. Nobuyoshi couldn't say anything to that because he already had another protest at the back of his tongue but he likely wouldn't get away with spitting it out. Terushima patted Nobuyoshi on the back, yet again. "I'm going to run the rest of the way home. Don't be late tomorrow."

Nobuyoshi watched as Terushima took off. It was weird. He must have been embarrassed or something, but if he was just going to react that way, Katsumichi didn't see why he had bothered going into detail.

 

Nobuyoshi was absolutely not late the next day, Terushima was just being a nuisance first thing in the morning. He petitioned Anabara to let him partner with someone else but his words fell on deaf ears and he ended up leading spiking drills with Terushima. Kuribayashi did not look pleased to be roped in to toss balls at the net but she never made any vocal complaints. The first years who had been herded into their group looked relaxed as they took turns in running up to spike the ball, and Terushima was encouraging enough until Nobuyoshi had a turn.

"He kept telling me I wasn't good enough," Nobuyoshi grumbled at lunchtime. He had begrudgingly allowed Numajiri to join him but was secretly relieved when Tsuchiyu and Higashiyama dragged chairs to his desk. The three of them had arrived with five wiener bread rolls wrapped cellophane. Tsuchiyu pushed one towards Nobuyoshi and informed him that he and Bobata had bought as many as they could afford so there were none left when Terushima inevitably arrived.

"Thanks, are you listening?" 

"Of course we are," Higashiyama said. As he spoke he frowned carefully at his own wiener bread and peeled at the edges of the plastic to open it. "Terushima hates you or something." 

"He doesn't hate me he is trying to provoke me."

"And it is working," Tsuchiyu surmised shortly around a mouthful of wiener bread. He chewed quickly and swiped away the resulting spray of crumbs with the edge of his hand. "You know how Terushima gets." 

The point was Nobuyoshi wasn't certain about that at all. Since losing out on qualifying for the Spring High, Terushima had been so different to the person he had become used to. There were times when he was the same, able to lift the mood and provide momentum even with the dregs of his energy, but on the whole he had been much more pensive. He had been wearing tiredness more plainly on his face and he even attended school bearing the vestiges of perfume. 

"I don't get it," Nobuyoshi said, shaking his head. "Unless he is trying to teach me a lesson for complaining about Jiri."

"Why would you complain about me?" Numajiri spluttered. Tsuchiyu patted him on the back sympathetically. 

"All you have been talking about these days is Futamata and his girlfriend," Nobuyoshi said. If mentioning it triggered yet another rant, Nobuyoshi resolved to endure. 

"Because it doesn't make any sense. If I were a girl and was into the whole messy slob concept, I would one hundred percent choose Bobata who is just as scruffy but at least he is tall and has that whole effortlessly handsome thing going on." 

"Does he?" Higashiyama asked. He and Numajiri shared a look so Nobuyoshi used the time he could have felt out of the loop to share a look with Tsuchiyu.

"You know what they're like," Tsuchiyu muttered sagely. 

In truth, Nobuyoshi did know what they were like. They had become secretive again, a bit like the time when Higashiyama first got into a relationship with that guy from Shiratorizawa. Nobuyoshi had been a tiny bit hurt that Higashiyama hadn't mentioned any of it to him, and that Futamata knew about it before he did, but he had gone on this long without bringing it up. It was too late to broach the subject now. 

He wondered whether Numajiri liked boys too, and that was what they were being secretive about all over again. If that were the case, Nobuyoshi hoped that someone would tell him sooner rather than later. It seemed like nobody trusted Nobuyoshi with things like this and that made him feel ten times worse than Terushima picking on him did.

He nodded at Tsuchiyu. "I do," he agreed though he wished it were not the case.

Tsuchiyu smiled in response. He set down his wiener bread and looked about the table cheerfully. "Maybe you should get a girlfriend, Jiri, and then Futamata having one won't bother you so much," he suggested.

Numajiri looked thoughtful for a moment and shook his head. "I think Futamata having a girlfriend would still bother me." 

"Why?" Nobuyoshi couldn't help but wonder aloud. 

"How does he have a girlfriend? Does she have a severe visual impairment? Is she just ugly or desperate?"

"Akiko-chan is very cute, actually," Tsuchiyu said reproachfully. When Numajiri made to interrupt, he went on with more resolve. "She is one of Nari-chan's friends. I introduced them and Futamata hit it off with Akiko-chan."

"So this is your fault," Numajiri glowered. "Is the offer open to anyone or is it just Futamata?"

"What?"

"Getting us girlfriends," Numajiri said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tsuchiyu balked. He must have foreseen some complaints but not this particular possibility. "Nari-chan only has so many friends. And some of those might already have relationships."

"How many single friends does she have?" Higashiyama asked.

"Stay out of this, Higashi," Numajiri grumbled as he jabbed Higashiyama with his elbow.

"Why can't I be interested?"

"Because you have a boyfriend," Nobuyoshi retorted, too loud. As Higashiyama's eyes darted around the classroom, Nobuyoshi regretted that his desk was right in the middle of the room.

"I guess," Higashiyama mumbled at the scrunched plastic wrapping on the desk. He didn't say anything for the rest of lunch so it was no wonder Nobuyoshi couldn't stomach any food after that.

 

In contrast to the nit-picking Terushima had been doing earlier, he was kind enough to let Nobuyoshi tell him what happened during after school practice. Nobuyoshi had been confused as to why Terushima volunteered them to fill up water bottles until the cheeky wink and hissed, "I love gossiping about boys."

He had listened well and his fingers tapped his chin as he crouched, surrounded by the water bottles he had discarded on the floor. Nobuyoshi was glad he had the foresight to carry his own and carefully placed them upright on the ground.

"Do you like boys too?" Terushima asked.

"No, not really." His skin prickled as Terushima leaned closer, clacking his tongue ring against his incisors. He caught the metal ball between his teeth and stared for a long moment. Nobuyoshi, leaning back, asked, "Why?"

"I thought you had a thing for Higashi," Terushima shrugged. "It isn't a big deal if you do. I know Higashi had some life changing experience or something, but it isn't like that for everyone. Sometimes you just want to try something different and it turns out you like it almost as much as the usual. And then that becomes part of your usual too."

Terushima was being very vague about it all but Nobuyoshi wasn't stupid.

"I'm not surprised about you at all."

"You're not?" Terushima asked through a small smirk. "Why aren't you surprised?"

"Because everyone knows you have that whole... 'I'll sleep with anyone' vibe going on. Even people from other schools think you're some promiscuous slag."

Terushima's smirk did not drop, but just like the day before his gaze turned steely. "Don't those words just mean the same thing? It's good to know what you really think of me, Iizaka. I'm sure Higashi will be glad to hear that he too is a promiscuous slag."

"I didn't mean it like that," Nobuyoshi protested. He knew it was futile but he had to at least attempt to defend himself. "You're just twisting my words now."

"Sure I am," Terushima shrugged. "Hearing you pass judgement on everything is making me curious though."

"I already said that I didn't mean it that way," Nobuyoshi said to deaf ears.

"What do you like, Iizaka?"

That was a question that Nobuyoshi wasn't sure he could answer. He could give some prepared answer, some list of attributes that he might not even be able to find in a person. He could admit that he was terrified of even thinking about things like that. What was the point in liking a person, in getting tangled in hope that they might reciprocate his feelings, when there was no evidence that it was possible to like him? But he couldn't very well hand Terushima ammunition like that and not expect him to use it. So he shrugged the question off and hoped his face was blank.

"I don't know. Honestly I think I am a bit young to be thinking about sex so much." It wasn't exactly a lie, because seventeen was nothing in the grand scheme of things. Wondering was something he could tear himself up over when he didn't have things like volleyball and university admissions to consider. 

Terushima shook his head. "I'm not talking about sex. What makes your heart race? What do you long for more than anything? What makes your lungs stop working because you are so in awe of how much you like it? What do you want to protect with your life? You want to be happy more than anything else but you know it isn't viable unless you can reach out for this _one thing_." 

"I don't know," Nobuyoshi said, because he didn't.

"Kiss me, Iizaka."

"What?" He was aware that his reaction had knocked over the bottles he had considerately placed down properly. Now he was as bad as Terushima and everyone would be at risk of ingesting germs. Terushima tipped forwards from his crouch and crawled closer on his knees until his kneepads touched Nobuyoshi's. He lifted steady hands to rest on Nobuyoshi's shoulders. And he said it again.

"Kiss me, Iizaka."

"Why?"

"You haven't had your first kiss yet, have you?"

"I have," Nobuyoshi lied quickly.

"When was it?" Nobuyoshi had hoped not to be caught in his lie so quickly. He was mostly shocked about the fact he could not even think of something as simple as a believable time for him to have had his first kiss. When he had been quiet for a painfully long time, Terushima smiled softly and said, "I'm not making fun of you, Iizaka. But if you'd had your first kiss you would be able to tell me. I remember every one of my first kisses. My very first kiss was in my second year of middle school. The girl I liked was a third year and she was graduating so I confessed. She told me she wouldn't be able to return my feelings but she kissed me. Only for a moment, but something that brief will be a memory I treasure for the rest of my life." 

"Very cute," Nobuyoshi said. He didn't know what Terushima expected at all.

He nodded. "I know it is cute. Iizaka, you deserve a cute memory too, but I can't give that to you. The best I can do is give you a first kiss that is at least nice. Because I am going to invite you to come out with me properly and I can't let you around those people who won't even care enough to let your first kiss feel nice." 

"Are you some sort of kissing expert?" Nobuyoshi asked because everything felt too thick and if he could at least ease some of the pressure he was going to try.

"I am your best option. I have all the experience of a promiscuous slag, but I also care about you a lot, Iizaka."

It was so stupid, but Nobuyoshi nodded. 

Terushima's approach was too slow and Nobuyoshi felt his entire body wind up with fear and anticipation. He really wanted this, he realised, when Terushima's weight was pressing down on his shoulders and he had shuffled even closer to straddle Nobuyoshi's lap. Terushima smiled down at him and stroked his right hand up Nobuyoshi's trapezius gently. He cupped at Nobuyoshi's jaw and his thumb was a bare press, stroking along the skin there.

Nobuyoshi had no clue what he was supposed to be doing or how relevant any of this was to kissing. His hands were trembling but he thought he should touch Terushima too. He clenched his hands into fists, felt them shudder more violently at his sides, before he released his hands and placed them at Terushima's sides. He could feel each breath that Terushima took, his hands tracking the movement of Terushima's torso in tandem with the warm wash of breath over his face with each exhale.

He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be doing anything special with his own breathing. He didn't know what was polite or normal, so he asked, "What do I do?"

"Relax, Iizaka," Terushima said. "Close your eyes."

Nobuyoshi hesitated for a moment before he closed his eyes. He doubted that losing one of his senses would miraculously clue him in on what to do.

He couldn't see anything and suddenly he couldn't feel Terushima breathing either. Heat was still seeping into his hands through the cotton of Terushima's T-shirt, and the steady weight of Terushima's thighs over his own was still present. Not knowing anything except for this made Nobuyoshi hold his breath. But he couldn't hear anything either. He only had the electricity firing under his skin to help him. And Terushima's hands on him, now both of them holding his face.

And Terushima's lips pressed against his own. It was nothing more than that and Nobuyoshi had his first kiss.

He opened his eyes and Terushima did it again. Terushima's eyes were closed and his eyelashes fluttered until he was too close for Nobuyoshi to see anything anymore. Straining his eyes was beginning to ache, so Nobuyoshi let his eyes fall closed again and pushed against Terushima's mouth until he pulled away again.

The third was different. Terushima's lips were parted and one of his hands had moved to hold the back of Nobuyoshi's head. This felt too weird and different, especially when Terushima kissed at just Nobuyoshi's lower lip, and then his upper lip, and then the wet scorch of a tongue traced the seam of his mouth. 

He tipped his head away, annoyed that he was allowing Terushima to look at the heat in his face because he was scared of something as silly as kissing.

"I don't think I will be very good if we go further." 

"We don't have to continue if you don't want to," Terushima said quietly. "But kissing isn't about being good or bad. It is something you should just be able to enjoy."

The tenderness of Terushima's expression was at odds with the dread that was twining itself around the want in the pit of Nobuyoshi's stomach. Even as he had considered stopping he knew that he wouldn't. Because he was easily goaded, just like everyone else on the team and Terushima knew exactly how to get each and every one of them.

Nobuyoshi was the one to press forwards this time. He flinched as he accepted Terushima's tongue into his mouth, the motion alien to him even when he tried to move his own tongue in tandem, stroking against the thick heat of it as he pushed his tongue against it. Until he felt Terushima's tongue ring. The metal was as warm as the rest of Terushima's mouth but Nobuyoshi shuddered as it rubbed against his tongue. He stopped moving, incapacitated by something so small, and gave up. He pulled away and wiped at the cooling saliva around his mouth.

"That was weird," Nobuyoshi said, fully aware that he was contributing to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Yeah," Terushima agreed happily as he climbed from Nobuyoshi's lap. He slowly stood, stretching his arms in the air before he set to work retrieving the bottles he had dropped when they first arrived. "Don't forget this."

"Shouldn't we finish filling up the water bottles?"

"I'm going to make a captain decision and say no," Terushima said. Nobuyoshi was not at all surprised when Numajiri, one of the people left with an empty bottle threw his bottle right at Terushima's head.

 

Terushima was the perfect guest on the day they went out together. The next day was Sunday so Terushima flirted his way to agreement from Nobuyoshi's parents that it was fine for them to stay out late just this once. He even stayed for dinner and made sure to be generous with his assessments of the meal. 

The miso was the best he had ever tasted, the rice was delightfully fluffy, the side dishes were packed with flavour. The food was nice, just as it always was, but Terushima was acting as though it was worthy of being served at a top restaurant. He just looked like a bad son for not agreeing. 

"You can bring him again," Nobuyoshi's mum said with a sly smile.

From the way his sisters Mio and Rie had taken to Terushima Nobuyoshi probably wouldn't invite him over again. Not if he could help it. Nobuyoshi was old enough to get taken in by teasing and sycophantic comments but his sisters were only thirteen. Terushima was by no means a bad guy, Nobuyoshi just didn't want to hear that his volleyball captain had been the seed of sexual awakening for either of his sisters. He did wonder if it was jealousy, if his first kiss had made him possessive, but seeing Terushima with his arms looped around the shoulders of girls at school and whispering into their ears elicited nothing similar to the feeling of his sisters falling victim to Terushima. He supposed it was some protective instinct. There should be just one corrupted child per family.

They took the train into town. Nobuyoshi had expected a trip into Sendai but Terushima shook his head. 

"They have proper checks for ID in the city." That seemed reasonable. It also drove home the point about what they were doing being technically illegal. 

There must have been something in attitude that didn't make it seem that way. Terushima slouched stylishly on the train seats. He looked as though he had toppled onto the seats right out of the pages of a magazine. His jeans were tight enough to make Nobuyoshi blush and his collarbones were exposed even though Nobuyoshi was shivering inside his jacket. He felt a lot less cool than Terushima but he had been told multiple times already that he looked good. It would probably be really needy of him to ask again so he asked an altogether different question.

"What is the point in us going out tonight?" He had just been going along with it on a whim up until this point. Now that he was on the train and he was feeling like a different person already it seemed like a good time to ask. He couldn't stop the bouncing if his knee even as Terushima's eyes trailed there while he clacked his tongue piercing against his back teeth.

"What do you think the point is?"

"To make an example of me for calling you a slag," Nobuyoshi suggested. It had crossed his mind more than a few times that the purpose of today could have been to scare him a bit and teach him a lesson about throwing words around. It made Terushima laugh so even if it wasn't the reason at least he had been funny going for him.

"Don't you think I would have brought some of the others so they could vicariously learn that lesson too?"

"I really don't know then," Nobuyoshi said. He had made a guess and he was wrong. He was hoping to get the answer soon. 

Terushima shuffled closer across the seat until their knees touched. There were long slashes in Terushima's jeans and the sparse hairs on his legs visible, pushed back against the direction of their growth by Nobuyoshi's knee. It was a strange thing to focus on but there was nothing else to look at if he didn't want Terushima's eyes burning holes through his skin. 

"I want to get to know you," Terushima said. 

There were better ways of getting to know a person, Nobuyoshi was sure. He wouldn't deny that they didn't know one another beyond the superficial things but he didn't feel bad about it either. Making an effort goes both ways. Nobuyoshi knew that Terushima was smart, he liked wiener bread, he went to a salon to get his eyebrows shaped, he liked old fashioned comedy, he lived with his grandparents and he could come and go as he pleased. Those were the basics and Nobuyoshi did not doubt that the things that Terushima knew about him were just as meaningless.

"Is this how you get to know all your friends?" Nobuyoshi asked wryly. He had tried for a joke to break the tension that was pressing at his chest just as solidly as Terushima's knee was pressing against his. 

"It worked with Bobata," Terushima shrugged with a sombre expression.

"Really?"

"Well it was more a case of me being nervous and begging him to come with me. He was popular but it wasn't really his scene. It's a shame because he was a good kisser too."

Nobuyoshi was not going to ask. As much as he wanted to confirm that Terushima and Bobata had kissed the answer would have no bearing on his own life. It didn't matter whether Terushima was a habitual first kiss stealer. Or even if Terushima and Bobata were linked physically in such a way, it wouldn't matter to Nobuyoshi. It didn't even matter that he had been kissed by Terushima for no apparent reason. 

He was still unsure about that part of things. Practice had gone on as normally and Kuribayashi had asked him if he needed to sit out for a bit if he was already overheating, but aside from that it was as though the kiss had never happened. He didn't particularly want to bring it up with Terushima just in case he had imagined the whole thing. He was sure it had happened, that Terushima had ambushed him and said something about not wanting Nobuyoshi's first kiss to go to someone who wouldn't appreciate it. Nobuyoshi wasn't sure how such a thing could be appreciated, nor how Terushima thought himself qualified to appreciate it.

Regardless of his ignorance, Nobuyoshi was not going to ask.

 

 

Nobuyoshi knew that wherever they were going was a sketchy place. He already knew it so he wasn't sure why he was surprised when a few train stops later Terushima led him down a dark street. For a brief moment he considered that Terushima could have planned to murder him for calling him a slag. Terushima was not usually petty but it was a possibility. But minutes later -long minutes where Nobuyoshi's lips itched to ask more about what was going on even though his mind kept his words sealed at the back of his throat - Terushima skipped down a concealed stone staircase. 

Although every instinct he had told him that following Terushima down the steps would be a bad idea he did it. The steps were damp and even in the glow of night Nobuyoshi could see the eroded edges of the bricks in the walls. There was a narrow corridor that they walked down, wind seeping through Nobuyoshi's jacket and chilling his skin. Terushima disappeared around a corner and Nobuyoshi seriously thought about turning around and going home. But at the sound of Terushima's voice calling his name Nobuyoshi followed. 

He smelled the smoke before the cloud hit him in the face. He coughed into his fist and hoped he wasn't being too rude before greeting the person who was creating the smoke. The smoker was sitting on a tall stool next to a wooden door with peeling paint. Bundled in a puffy blue coat and a thick woollen scarf only the pouting mouth and glowing nose was visible underneath the knitted hat pulled down almost to their eyelashes.

"Good evening," Nobuyoshi offered with a small bow. The response was a grumpy puff of smoke and a hand raised into the cold air.

"Iizaka, this is Choru-san, the owner of my favourite place to be" Terushima said. He sounded far too excited to be introducing someone who was frowning so deeply.

"It is nice to meet you, Choru-san," Nobuyoshi greeted, still unsure what the extent of the situation was. Choru-san nodded and took a drag of their cigarette before exhaling through the side of their mouth. 

"You're friends with Terushima?" Choru-san clarified. Nobuyoshi nodded and Choru-san shook their head. "Poor kid."

Nobuyoshi guessed that Choru-san was just an anomaly because each of the people inside greeted Terushima warmly and did not question the fact that two teenage boys had come in through a back entrance. The employees they passed patted Terushima on the back and offered much the same treatment to Nobuyoshi and he immediately thought that the whole situation was odd. Just as odd was Terushima giving proper introductions to his friends in the club and staring right at Nobuyoshi's face to gauge his reaction.

The talking was supplemented with dancing – both Nobuyoshi and Terushima proved to be terrible dancers but it seemed to be yet another guise for Terushima to pull in a revolving cast of people for Nobuyoshi to be introduced to.

Everyone was intimidating regardless of the fact that Nobuyoshi was much taller than a lot of the people he met. There was a look many of them shared that made Nobuyoshi cringe away as though he had been found out. He was too young and inexperienced in dealing with older people who - sophisticated wasn't a term to describe most of the people, but they all wore the same brand of effortlessly cool that Terushima had donned for this evening - just seemed so much better than him. He was just a kid averaging sixties and seventies in his tests and all the people he was meeting had jobs and disposable income and something apparently interesting to talk about.

 

After making his way through a glass of cola and following Terushima around for insubstantial meetings, Nobuyoshi grabbed at Terushima's arm and lowered his mouth to Terushima's ear. "I'm sorry for being boring." 

He had been trying. He asked people how old they were, what music they liked, and what their jobs were after being introduced. He didn't want this to be more hard work for Terushima than it had to be, but his attempts at being polite and taking an interest in others tragically failed when Nobuyoshi couldn't formulate a reply about nearing thirty, alleged speed-metal bands, and accounting. He was out of his depth, far more familiar with the things he was expected to say to his schoolmates who needed to borrow books or P.E. kits or needed a speedily hissed answer because they had nodded off in class. 

Though Nobuyoshi had been trying, he could not help but be hurt by the flagrant disappointment in his volleyball captain's face when he wasn't satisfied with the effort. 

"Boring?" Terushima frowned. He stood on tiptoes and steadied himself with a hand on Nobuyoshi's shoulder so that his voice was a hot hiss in his ear. "Iizaka, you're not being boring. I am just still trying to work out what you like."

"I don't even know that."

"Yeah, but you have got to work it out at some point. I'll grab you another drink."

"Is it going to be something alcoholic?"

"Do you want it to be?" Terushima retorted. He grinned when Nobuyoshi shrugged and maybe both of them had missed something, but Terushima was already at the bar and making the barmaid giggle.

Nobuyoshi wished he was the sort of person that did know what he liked. Unfortunately, he didn't even have a clue. He didn't know what he liked in people, or TV shows, or food, or fashion. It had taken him fifteen years to decide he liked volleyball; he was good at it and in his first year he found he never particularly minded spending time with his teammates, but aside from that it was much easier to let other people's likes dictate what he would and would not put up with.

Except in the case of Numajiri's endless complaining, which Nobuyoshi had known he disliked from the outset.

 

 

Nobuyoshi wasn't sure about anything. Yukari-san accosted him hungrily, her gaping mouth more content to taste his flesh than to pretend any show of intimacy with soft kisses. He wondered whether it was obvious that he was lost, that he didn't know what to do with his hands, that she was the first woman he had ever touched like this. Her skin burned beneath Nobuyoshi's fingertips but he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the heat offered to him. 

He simply continued to rest his hands at her lower back. He was too shy to venture much further than there, the knowledge of her total nakedness, the perfume of her skin not doing much to encourage him. There wasn't much he could do about the brush of her breasts against his chest as she moved, nor the heat that radiated from between her legs.

What was irritating about the whole thing was that Nobuyoshi was sure he was supposed to be incredibly aroused by this. Despite not being sure of anything, he had always sure that right before sex he would be achingly hard and at the mercy of whichever devastatingly attractive person had laid him bare. Instead, Nobuyoshi had reached a point of half-hardness and moments later reverted to a pitifully flaccid state.

Yukari-san was very attractive, both her face and body seemed to belong better to a world of celebrity than a tiny flat in an old house that was falling deep into disrepair. She was also very nice. Her smile was comforting and even back at the club she had managed a monologue that didn't require much input from Nobuyoshi once she realised he didn't have a relevant thought in his head. It seemed a shame for her that she was so prone to losing her keys and forgetting computer passwords and having to navigate the office she worked at by planning her routes to avoid lecherous old men at the photocopier. It was a shame for her that she had to put so much effort into settling Nobuyoshi.

If she hadn't seemed so considerate - waving off both Nobuyoshi and Terushima's attempts to split the taxi fare among other saintly acts - earlier on, Nobuyoshi might have considered that Yukari-san was simply too inebriated to notice his problem. The truth was more likely that she was ignoring his surprise impotence to spare his feelings. She was too kind going this far for him, not mentioning how disappointing he was even as she stroked at his unresponsiveness with the soft warmth of her hands.

Nobuyoshi was the worst.

He wondered if this was karma for calling Terushima a slag, if he was cursing Nobuyoshi from the adjacent room to teach him a lesson. 

Yukari-san's mouth was slick against Nobuyoshi's, warm and firm in her persistence. The way she moved her jaw, letting Nobuyoshi slowly acclimatise to her tongue pushing into his mouth and licking gently enough at the roof of his mouth to startle him to gasping -  but unfortunately not getting erect - made Nobuyoshi feel floaty and nice. And completely horrible for being so unreliable. 

When she pulled away and sat back on Nobuyoshi's thighs, her eyes slightly unfocused from the quantity of vodka-lemonades she had knocked back in the club, Nobuyoshi decided it was time to at least apologise. 

"Yukari-san, I am sorry that I'm not... That I can't do much more than this."

Nobuyoshi didn't know whether to feel comforted or more horrible for the way she shook her head and smiled kindly at him. "It is fine, Nobuyoshi-kun. This can happen to anyone and it obviously won't help if you feel pressured. You should have said no when I asked you to come here if you felt uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry," Nobuyoshi mumbled feeling ten times more ashamed than before she had been as kind as to advise him.

"Nobuyoshi-kun, how old are you?"

"Seventeen." 

"Ah, then we both told fibs to get into the club tonight," Yukari-san said with a conspiratorial wink. "But I am almost old enough to drink and you have a few more years to go. I want you to promise me that you won't try to grow up too fast, and that you won't do anything like this until you feel ready and happy to do it. Can you do that?" 

The soft tone of Yukari-san's voice and the vague gesturing of her hand between them life Nobuyoshi feeling adequately chastised. So he nodded. 

Yukari-san pressed a kiss to his cheek before climbing off his lap and moving to retrieve their clothes. Dressing came with its own lecture, mostly about avoiding friends who make him uncomfortable and standing up to peer-pressure. It was all very inspirational in the half-light of Yukari-san's bedroom in the early hours of the morning, but Nobuyoshi doubted the wisdom from her two years of maturity would be shared with any of his friends. Embarrassment over the whole thing would keep him from mentioning this to anyone, though he felt heartened by the sentiments she had offered. 

Yukari-san grinned deviously as she shoved a snoozing Terushima to the floor from her sofa and advised him to be more careful.

"I really am sorry, Yukari-san," Nobuyoshi found himself saying as she shoved him into the back of a taxi.

"As long as you keep your promise, you never need to feel sorry towards me," she said firmly. 

Terushima waited until the taxi had pulled away from the curb to ask about the promise but Nobuyoshi feigned exhaustion against the window and managed to avoid answering. 

 

After quietly unlocking the front door to his home and shushing Terushima after his first few footfalls in the house were just as loud and heavy as they would be in the middle of the day, Nobuyoshi finally felt exhaustion settle into his body. He brushed his teeth slowly and hoped that Terushima was done changing into pyjamas by the time he finished. Then they swapped, Terushima squeezing Nobuyoshi’s shoulder as he made his way to the bathroom quietly.

Nobuyoshi was not as gracious a host as to let Terushima sleep in his bed but there were no complaints about the spare futon that had been laid out on the floor. Terushima dutifully lay down without mentioning Nobuyoshi getting to sleep in his bed.

That should have been the end of that, but in the dead of night, Terushima was silent as still and Nobuyoshi was straining his ears for the soft, easy breaths of sleep.

“Did you find out what you like?” Terushima whispered.

Nobuyoshi turned over in bed to look down at Terushima. His eyes were glinting even in the dark and it was unsettling. “I’m not sure.”

“Maybe next time we’ll work it out,” Terushima sighed. He turned to lie on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Without the pinpricks of light turned right at him, it was easier for Nobuyoshi to talk.

“I don’t think I’ll bother. I’m okay not knowing what I like yet. I can deal with things like that in the future.”

Nobuyoshi heard Terushima swallow, an oddly loud sound on the otherwise silent room. The, “Wouldn’t it be easier to work it out now?”

“I like putting things off.”

Terushima huffed. He was probably right, that it would be easier in the long-run if he forced himself to think about what he liked, what he disliked, and what he wanted out of life. But he was okay with having lukewarm feelings towards most things. And there wasn’t much that life dictated he make a decision about immediately. He still had time. Third year was when he would have to make decisions and he had several months to compile his reasoning for liking, or not liking, or doing, or not doing things. There was only one immediately important thing that he had to make a decision about.

He liked volleyball.

“That works,” Terushima said, a small smile in his voice. “Goodnight, Iizaka.”

“Goodnight.”

 

The next morning, Nobuyoshi messaged Numajiri. Nobuyoshi would stop complaining about him if Numajiri at least came up within something to rant about that wasn’t Futamata’s love life.

It was not until Terushima had left, at the behest of Nobuyoshi’s family, that afternoon that he saw the reply from Numajiri. He had agreed to the deal, and Nobuyoshi liked that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try something different with this. Just something else I wrote on my phone and have only briefly edited. It took me a while after I started writing this before I worked out exactly how this would end. But I think this was probably the best way. Let me know if you like it.


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